Pump Up the Porch

Head over to Hooper and Read Patterson’s house in Wilmington, N.C., and chances are you’ll find the family of five hanging out on their back porch. That’s because Hooper, an interior designer and blogger (Birds of a Feather), turned the once-empty space into the home’s go-to spot. "I didn’t want the back porch to feel like an afterthought," she says.

Entertaining Space

Hooper says "the rest of our house is bright with lots of turquoise, and I wanted the porch, which is right off the living room, to be lively and inviting, like an extension of the inside." With cheery colors and patterns, comfy seating and some clever DIY projects, their poppy porch is now the envy of the neighborhood. Luckily, the Pattersons like to throw parties.

Punchy Rug

DIY Coffee Table

Paint two urns with two coats of semigloss paint-plus-primer. Let dry, then fill with pebbles for weight. For the tabletop, have five 4-by-4s cut 3 feet long. Lay boards parallel to one another on the ground. Using Liquid Nails, glue them together, then glue two strips of wood down the center, so they cross all five boards. Paint the tabletop with two coats, and let dry. Apply Liquid Nails to the urns' rims, then set the tapletop on them, making sure the strips are on the bottom. Paint: Dragon Fire by Behr; Urns: Italian 13"-tall stone urns in limestone finish, $15 each, homedepot.com for stores

Candle Chandelier

Plenty of Plants

Palms and ferns feel lush and cool in these painted pots. Chevron pots: Paint smooth clay or terra-cotta pots with two coats of matte white paint-plus-primer, and let dry. Use 1-inch painter’s tape to make a chevron pattern, then paint between the tape with three different colors—each stripe should be 1 inch wide. Remove tape before the paint is dry. Palm pots: Apply decals — the pieces come in various shades of green — to painted pots. Coat with outdoor Mod Podge. Paint: Thyme Green, Gem Turquoise, and Rolling Hills, all by Behr; Decals: Philodendron wall decals, $30, allposters.com